Daphne Odjig, R.C.A.

Gallery Phillip is pleased to offer an extensive selection of limited edition prints by renowned First Nations artist Daphne Odjig. Many of the works listed below have become hard-to-find collectors items and were all featured in the national touring exhibition organized and circulated by The Kamloops Art Gallery. Itinerary:

Daphne Odjig, R.C.A.  Artist Biography

Celebrated First Nations artist Daphne Odjig, known as the grandmother of Canadian Indigenous art, was born in 1919 on the Wikwemikong Reserve on Manitoulin Island. Her heritage is composed of Odawa, Potawatomi and English roots, which were revealed to Daphne Odjig as a child on sketching excursions with her tombstone-carver grandfather, Jonas. He taught her the legends of her ancestors and the use of the curvilinear design for which she has become revered.

Daphne Odjig was a self-taught artist who began painting and drawing at a young age; however it wasn't until the 1960's that she began to deliberately exhibit her artwork. She felt compelled to instruct the young native peoples about their heritage, just as her grandmother had done. She began to focus her art-making upon the legends, joys and realities of Indigenous life while simultaneously refining her signature style of vibrant colours, soft contours outlined in black, overlapping shapes and modernist, abstracted figuration.

Daphne Odjig established the first native-run fine art print house in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1971. Known as 'Odjig Indian Prints,' this print house was so successful that it evolved into an aboriginal gallery space in 1974, called the New Warehouse Gallery, run by Odjig and her husband, Chester Beavon. She was one of the founding members of the first Canadian Native-run printmaking operation, the Canadian Professional Native Artist Association, colloquially known as the "Indian Group of Seven." This group consisted of Daphne Odjig, Norval Morrisseau, Carl Ray, Alex Janvier Jackson Beardy, Eddy Cobiness and Joseph Sanchez.

Daphne Odjig has received numerous awards include eight honorary doctorates, an appointment to the Order of Canada, election to the Royal Canadian Academy of Art and the 2007 Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts. In addition, she was presented with an Eagle Feather by Chief Wakageshig in 1978 on behalf of the Wikwemikong Reserve in recognition of her artistic accomplishments - an honour previously reserved for men to acknowledge prowess in hunt or war. Documentaries by the CBC, the National Film Board and Tokyo Television have been made about Daphne Odjig and she has completed commissions for
Expo 1970 in Japan, the Royal Ontario Museum, and the twenty-seven foot mural at the Museum of Civilization entitled The Indian in Transition. In 1984, her works were featured in a group exhibtion entitled: The Image Makers at the Art Gallery of Ontario. In 2007, she has a retrospective exhibition, organized by the Art Gallery of Sudbury and the National Gallery of Canada, entitled The Drawings and Paintings of Daphne Odjig, A Retrospective Exhibition.

In 2011, Canada Post issued a three-stamp Art Canada issue which celebrates her work and includes three paintings representing her powerful style. The paintings featured are: Pow-wow Dancer, 1978, on the Canadian stamp, Pow-wow, 1969, on the US stamp and Spiritual Renewal, 1984, on the international stamp.

Daphne Odjig passed away on October 1st, 2016 at the Cottonwoods Care Centre in Kelowna, B.C. at the age of 97. Her artwork will remind those of her distinctive contributions to Canadian art, which will continue to inspire others for generations to come.

Gallery Gevik Exhibitions

Daphne OdjigA Retrospective - Art on Paper
November 12th to December 10th, 2016

Odjig is frequently referred to as the "Grandmother of Indigenous Art." She has
been the recipient of many awards, honours and recognitions for her works, to name a few: The Order
of Canada, the Governor General's Award, and eight Honorary Doctorates. Her works have been shown
in the National Gallery of Canada, The McMichael Canadian Art Collection, the Canadian Museum of
Civilization and the Art Gallery of Ontario.

She established the first native-run fine art print house in Winnipeg, Manitoba in
1971. Known as 'Odjig Indian Prints,' this print house was so successful that it evolved into an
Indigenous gallery space in 1974, called the New Warehouse Gallery, run by Odjig and her husband,
Chester Beavon. She was also a founding member of the Indian Group of Seven. This artistic group's
purpose was to promote Contemporary Indigenous art and artists.

Alex
Janvier's major retrospective, "Alex Janvier: Modern Indigenous Master" is now open at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, Ontario until January 21st, 2018. Afterwards, it will travel to the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton and the Glenbow Museum in Calgary.

This exhibition was recently on display at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa and the MacKenzie Art Gallery in Regina. Alex Janvier is one of Canada's most acclaimed contemporary artists. His
career of sixty-five years has yielded thousands of paintings, and more than twenty-five murals and
public commissions. (Photo credit: Kim Griffiths)

Gallery Gevik
congratulates renowned Canadian and International abstract painter, Rita Letendre, on her first
major museum retrospective exhibition outside of Québec. Rita Letendre: Fire and
Light is now open until September 17, 2017 at the Art Gallery of Ontario.

This exhibition,
which covers Letendre's career from the 1960's to 2000's, is co-curated by Wanda Nanibush and
Georgiana Uhlyarik. The retrospective features nearly forty large-scale paintings drawn from major
national public and private collections.

Letendre was widely exhibited with the artistic groups,
Les Automatistes and Les Plasticiens. She has received the Governor General's Award in
Visual Arts, the Prix Paul-Émile Borduas, and the Orders of Canada, Ontario and
Québec. Click here for more details.